It's good to see you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks for having us again.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, I am Major-General Paul Prévost, and I have met with you a number of times. Again, I'm the director of staff of the Canadian Armed Forces strategic joint staff. With me today are Ty Curran, deputy director general, international security policy at the Department of National Defence, as well as my colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Kati Csaba and Alison Grant.
We are honoured to appear before you today to provide an update on Operation Unifier and the situation in Ukraine.
The Canadian Armed Forces have a history of providing military support to Ukraine. Following Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, Canada launched Operation Unifier in response to requests from Ukraine for help deterring Russian aggression and remaining free, sovereign, secure and stable.
Through various iterations of Operation Unifier, the Canadian Armed Forces have provided the security forces of Ukraine with specialized military training to support their professionalization and to assist them in aligning with NATO standards and principles. Since the inception of Operation Unifier, the Canadian Armed Forces have trained over 38,000 members of the security forces—